It's kinda odd (to me, at least) to see an active blogpost in 2026. Everyone here seems to miss pre-html5 and css3 web but nobody seems to miss this era of the web, circa 2007-2010
For good reason. 90s web was full of independence and experimentation. Nobody really knew what was good or bad design and the Internet hadn’t been commercialised. So people just did stuff for fun.
The era you described was when corporate entities took ownership of the web with walled gardens like social networks and blogging platforms. Microsoft were stifling innovation in browser tech, and w3c were asleep at the wheel. So much of the web was built around Flash and other proprietary formats. It was basically the dark ages for web development.
Much as I dismiss many claims made about Apple inventing the smart phone, the iPhone was definitely a pivotal player in changing web technology to become what it is today (for better or for worse).
[0] https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofie_(verkeerslicht)
I always like to see one off designs, like this one in The Netherlands of Miffy (1) or Det in Mainz in Germany (2), or in Akureyri (3).
(1) https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/miffy-traffic-light-utre...
(2) https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mainzelmaenchen-ampel-tr...
(3) https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/akureyri-heart-shaped-tr...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampelmännchen
The era you described was when corporate entities took ownership of the web with walled gardens like social networks and blogging platforms. Microsoft were stifling innovation in browser tech, and w3c were asleep at the wheel. So much of the web was built around Flash and other proprietary formats. It was basically the dark ages for web development.
Much as I dismiss many claims made about Apple inventing the smart phone, the iPhone was definitely a pivotal player in changing web technology to become what it is today (for better or for worse).